News & Notes
Four CSU Faculty Awarded California Sea Grant Focus Awards
March 28, 2013
Category: News & Notes
(left to right: C. Cass, K. Hardy, S. Hamilton, and J. Long)
CSU faculty has received four of the six California Sea Grant Focus Awards for new investigators from the California Sea Grant. Humboldt State’s Dr. Christine Cass, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Dr. Kristin Hardy, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories’ Dr. Scott Hamilton, and San Diego State’s Jeremy Long are among the early-career investigators who have been commended for their extraordinary scientific merit.
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COAST Awards $85,500 to 32 CSU Students for Marine Research
January 30, 2013
Category: News & Notes
SFSU Student Mark Russell will use his COAST award to investigate weight loss in marine birds affected by oil contamination. Credit: International Bird Rescue
The CSU’s Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology (COAST) recently awarded 32 CSU students a total of $85,500 to provide support for students engaged in marine and coastal research with CSU COAST faculty members. The Student Awards for Marine Science Research will stimulate student interest in marine-related careers and provide scholars with the opportunity to obtain the skills necessary to join a highly skilled, technologically advanced workforce while promoting and supporting CSU faculty research.
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New Director Aims to Advance Ag Efforts
January 17, 2013
Category: News & Notes
Mark Shelton, associate dean of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences, was recently named executive director of the CSU’s Agricultural Research Institute (ARI). ARI is a comprehensive applied agricultural and environmental research program that partners the CSU’s colleges of agriculture with the state’s ag industries.
In his role as executive director of ARI, Shelton works closely with systemwide CSU leadership, as well as faculty and staff from each of ARI’s member campuses – Chico, Pomona, San Luis Obispo, and Fresno. He’ll also be leading efforts with the ag industry and agency partners to promote and advance ARI.
Shelton has served as Cal Poly’s campus ARI coordinator since the initiative’s inception in 1999.
“It’s been rewarding to see the program benefit faculty and students,” Shelton said. “Over the past 13 years, I’ve seen this program build ties between CSU campuses, and provide critical funding, research and equipment needed to advance the industry and education.”
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Gold Fever: Students Create Hands-On Exhibits for CSU Chico’s Gateway
December 14, 2012
Category: News & Notes
Sam Jameson and Shane Tack demonstrate their Magna Bike for the Gold Fever exhibit at the Gateway.
Rachel Teasdale, former interim director of the Gateway Science Museum and current professor of geological and environmental sciences at CSU Chico, knew that this fall’s exhibit, Gold Fever! Untold Stories of the California Gold Rush, was not going to have a lot of hands-on activities. Since one of the goals for exhibits at the museum is that visitors participate in an active way, she created an assignment for her students in Mineralogy and Lithology to create hands-on activities. In groups, students came up with a topic and created hands-on stations where visitors can learn about minerals, mining, and the uses of minerals in the exhibit.
Read more about these projects, including student descriptions of their goals: here.
MLML Research Vessel Departs for Five Month Expedition in Antarctica
November 30, 2012
Category: News & Notes
On November 29, the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories’ (MLML) Research Vessel Point Sur and its crew departed 8,200 miles south to assist the National Science Foundation (NSF) with its study of the Antarctic Peninsula. After increased interest in climate change impacts to the Antarctic continent, the NSF enlisted the help of MLML—a graduate program in marine science for CSU East Bay, Fresno, Monterey Bay, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose and Stanislaus—to analyze the habitat, chemistry, climate, biology, geology and physics of the Antarctic Peninsula around the U.S. base at Palmer Station. Research will focus on subtidal ecology, geology and the tagging and tracking of marine mammals.
Scheduled to return home in May 2013, R/V Point Sur plans to support additional science projects in Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico during its journey to and from Antarctica. Follow the ship’s path and read about the crew member’s adventures on the MLML Martine Operations’ website.
Cal Poly Professor Receives Grant to Host Protein Workshop
Category: News & Notes
Dr. Lars Tomanek, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to host a five-day workshop on proteomics (the study of proteins). Twelve participants will gain hands-on experience in the methodology involved in proteomic analysis and will attain an in-depth understanding of how the protein structures in organisms change due to environmental stress.
The workshop will take place December 10-14 in the Environmental Proteomics Laboratory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Participants, who include professors and graduate students from across the nation, will learn how to separate proteins by their charge, quantify proteins by their molecular mass, and use 2D gel- electrophoresis and mass spectrometry to identify proteins. Attendees will be able to analyze their own samples, generate their own data set, and will be exposed to the various tools that facilitate the interpretation of their results.
In addition to the $35,000 NSF grant, the CSU Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST) and BioRad provided funding for the program which will allow participants to initiate several new proteomics projects and help build a larger community around environmental proteomics.
Passing the Torch of Scientific Knowledge through Mentorship
July 24, 2012
Category: News & Notes
CSU’s Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST) and CSU Monterey Bay’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) recently launched an undergraduate student summer research program that pairs CSUMB students with COAST faculty at campuses across the CSU. Undergraduates studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics are working with professors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU East Bay, San Diego State and San Francisco State.
During their 10-week, paid internships, students are researching topics such as the influence of temperatures on sea turtles, the sleeping patterns of sea slugs, development of non-toxic coating for boats and how organisms have adapted to changes in the environment.
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COAST Reinforces CSU Marine Excellence in Washington, D.C.
June 11, 2012
Category: News & Notes
CSU’s Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology (COAST) met with elected officials in congressional office to discuss contributions that the CSU has made to marine science during Capitol Hill’s Ocean Week 2012 in Washington, D.C. last week.
COAST representatives Krista Kamer, James Lindholm, Beth Pardieck and Dean Wendt conveyed to policy and decision makers the organization’s ability to tap CSU faculty and students’ scientific expertise to help address critical marine and coastal issues.
“We were able to show how the CSU has been building upon the success of California’s coastal research and were able to tell people what we are doing to advance marine science,” said Kamer, COAST’s director.
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Student Studies Take Center Stage
May 11, 2012
Category: News & Notes
A Harvard-bound San Diego State student investigates why certain body tissue is more susceptible to disease, a CSU Bakersfield student aims to eradicate the cause of the Valley Fever, and a CSU Northridge student joins the battle against childhood obesity.
These are just a few of the more than 200 students that presented their remarkable research at the 2012 California State University Student Research Competition.
The best student researchers in the CSU system showcased their talents at the 26th annual CSU Student Research Competition May 4-5 at CSU Long Beach. The competition is held to promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate research as it recognizes CSU students’ innovative achievements.
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COASTing Toward Progress
May 4, 2012
Category: News & Notes
The CSU Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology (COAST) highlighted the organization’s achievements toward advancing California’s coastal and marine resources at its annual meeting at the CSU Chancellor’s Office on April 25.
COAST—a network of hundreds of CSU faculty members, scientists and students actively working to address the state’s critical marine and coastal issues—has made strides in research that are integral to the development of ocean, coast and coastal policy. In academic year 2011-12, COAST provided $181,000 in support research for CSU students. Scholars received the opportunity to work with CSU faculty on marine science projects; travel across the state, nation and world to present their findings; and participate in summer internships with organizations dedicated to conserving California’s ecosystems.
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